Post office information

lonejacklarry

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Lone Jack, MO Pop.528
A couple of months ago, I boxed up a large quantity of Slim Jims, canned potato chips, cookies, jerky, granola bars, some Street Rodder magazines, and other stuff for an Air Force pilot (my neighbor) in Afghanistan.

The post office lady said that with Priority Mail, the package would be insured for $50 (pretty close) and that tracking would be included for only $36.50. Off it went!

About 10 days later, I checked the tracking info on the USPS web site. The last entry was leaving Kansas City 9 days ago. Nothing since. After two weeks, and still nothing more added, I called the 800 number on the USPS web site for lost packages. A nice person said she would start an investigation. A day later the lady at my local post office called and said she didn't know where my package was. Great.

Another week goes by and I call the 800 number again and relate that the package was still lost and that the last "investigation" entailed calling my local post office. The person said he would escalate it to the district level. The next day, my local P.O. lady called and said she still didn't know where my package was.

I attempted to file the insurance but they require that one has the sales receipt or reasonable evidence of the content's value.
For a bunch of cookies?

They would not let me file for the insurance because I did not have my receipt for the cookies and the magazines AND they do not insure perishables! I did not send fresh bananas but packaged commercial goods. Sorry, son, but you're outta luck.

Just for your info: you might consider leaving the cookies off the customs info and stick with clothing and have a receipt handy in the event someone loses a package the size of a ream of paper.

The lady at the post office left all of the pertinent information out of the transaction: you know the part about perishables and that I needed a receipt.

More of our government at its finest!

Oh, yeah.....I'm out the $35 postage fee, too.
 
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I ship mail to APO/FPO addresses daily for business. It is slow. Very slow. If there is still tracking coming into the system then the package is not lost. Military mail get inspected very closely (unlike international customs, who rubberstamp basically everything), and given the price point you quoted, you must have sent a large-size or rather heavy box. Shipping to Afghantistan is really slow now. Not as many to-and-from as there used to be, and space is severely limited. In my experience, letters there can take 3 weeks. Small parcels up to twice as long. There is virtually zero chance your item is lost, and my guess is it will show up eventually. There is a chance also that once it leaves KC, it will not show further updates (the same way tracking an international package often only takes it until it leaves the US).
 
Back when I was in the military , we were using muzzle loaders then,:D the P.O. wasn't bad but the APO/FPO on the receiving end would lose you package quite regular. I've had packages sent through the P.O. and never show up on tracking and then it showed up on time. Sometimes the USPS tracking doesn't work. Hope you neighbor get's his care package I know they were worth looking forward to when in a hazardous area.
 
The next time you send something to a service man/woman overseas, try using the USPS Priority Mail box the PO provides for this service. The last one I sent had a cost of $13.50 and the box held 1 cubic foot of goodies. The box is the one that has APO/FPO printed on the outside.
 
Using the USPS "insurance" is a joke. Only when you attempt to file a claim do they inform you of the "details".

They "give" you $50 coverage but just try to get it!!!
brrrrraaaaaaaaahahahahaha
 
Got that right. They were quite happy to take the premium and sell me 600 dollars worth of insurance, but when they lost the package they wanted PROOF that it was worth that much. Why didn't they want proof before they took the premium?
 
During the 3 years I spent in Afghanistan, there was one point in time when packages from home "disappeared". Turned out that a National Guardsman from a postal unit was stealing them. He got caught and courtmartialed.
 
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